Job Interview Tips for Recent Graduates

If you've just completed your college education and have a degree (and student loan bills to pay), the sad truth is that you may still have problems trying to find a job these days. The competition is fierce no matter what field you're in or what you want to do with the rest of your life. When it comes to finding a career, recent graduates really have it tough because they often lack real world experience.

Interview Tips for Recent College Grads

Here's a look at some of what recent college graduates can do to make sure they do well on any interviews they happen to get after graduating.

• Downplay Negatives - As a recent graduate, one of the biggest obstacles to you getting hired is your lack of experience. To combat this, try to come up with ways that you were able to get at least some experience while in school. Whether this was working for the school newspaper or volunteering for something, you should try to play down your negatives as much as possible. 
• Highlight Strengths - At the same time, highlighting your strengths is a good idea. Because you're in a job interview, you shouldn't think of this as bragging or being conceited. You want to make sure you talk about things that are relevant to the job you're applying for, but this can be a good way to really show you're "management material." 
• Know Your Weakness - While you want to downplay most of your negatives - like a lack of experience - you should still be prepared to ask one of the most common job interview questions of all time - what you think your greatest weakness is. This question trips up a lot of people, but as long as you think about it and go into the interview with an answer, you should be fine. 

Before the Job Interview

To even get to the job interview, you really need to know how to write a cover letter. Fortunately, it's easy to find a resume builder online - even one that's completely free. When you take the time to make sure you get your resume looking great, you're going to have a better chance of being able to actually land a job interview. And these days, even that is a good thing - or at least a step in the right direction.

As a recent college graduate you're really going to have to work hard to get noticed among all the other likely job applicants, but if you follow the advice above there's a good chance you can really stand out from the rest of the crowd. This doesn't guarantee you'll land a job after your first interview, but it can make sure you have a fighting chance when you're out there and up against people with many years of experience.